Mustn't Keep You Waiting
by DrawnToTheRhythm
Summary: Because there was more to Jack's reaction than a steely eyed nonchalance. Rated T for alcohol.


Summary: Tag to 'Affinity', ... Because behind Jack's "I wouldn't be here" reaction was a whole lot more than we saw.  
Pairing: Sam/Jack, Jack/Daniel friendship, Sam/Daniel friendship  
A/N: just a niggling idea that popped into my frond and wouldn't go away.  
Disclaimer: These wonderful characters belong to MGM and Bridge Studios and the writers of Stargate SG-1. No copyright infringement intended, I'm just borrowing them for my own amusement.

...

Jack slammed the door shut behind him just a little too loudly and threw his keys across the surface of the table in his hallway. Visibly sighing, he dropped his jacket haphazardly across the back of the sofa and headed for the fridge to see what he had to eat. He hadn't eaten since his meagre breakfast of coffee and a doughnut.

Half a block of mouldy cheese, and beers was the sum of its contents as he absentmindedly remembered that he'd meant to hit the grocery store on his way home. In his haste to get away from the mountain he'd completely forgotten. He reached for his cordless phone. Pizza again, he supposed. The phone was halfway to his ear when something caught his eye and he placed it back down on the receiver, deciding against yet another take out from the place where the guys were so used to his call that they knew the tone of his 'hey there' and sent him the same old order for about the millionth time.

Jack grabbed the bottle from the mahogany stand and twisted off the cap, pouring until the glass tumbler was almost full and then knocking it back in one gulp. The whiskey burned the back of his throat but it was a welcome feeling as he refilled it and then sank back into his chair. Staring into nowhere.

...

Daniel pulled into the driveway and could see the light from the sitting room filtering through the blinds. Good, at least he's home, mused Daniel as he reached for the bag on the passenger seat of his car and opened the door. Bounding up the porch, he knocked on Jack's front door. No answer. From the window next to the door he could see Jack's jacket slung across the sofa but not the man himself. Odd. The second knock was louder and more insistent. After a beat there was a muffled "it's open!" from within the house so Daniel let himself in and peered round the corner towards the source of light.

Jack was sitting in a chair with only a table lamp on in complete silence.

"Hey, Jack, I forgot to give you your stuff back from our last baseball game, I figured, you might... want...it..." He tailed off as his face screwed up in confusion. Jack's attention seemed elsewhere as he stared at the spot on the floor.

"Danny!" He announced, a slight delay in his response, shaking his head as though there was water in his ear before standing up. And if Daniel didn't know any better there was a slight, almost imperceptible sway to Jack's movements. "What brings you to my house, in the middle of nowhere, at this ungodly hour?"

If Daniel didn't know any better, he's have sworn that Jack was... drunk.

"Ah, Jack it's only 10 o,clock?" He questioned, looking even more confused. "You ok?"

Jack grinned thinly, "Just peachy, why do you ask? Want a beer?" He said, heading for the kitchen.

"Actually, Jack, I was just stopping by, I have to get home. Sam said she was gonna call me when I got home about something SG-9 picked up from P4X-238 just as I was leaving." As he turned to yell something else in Jack's direction, he paused and pushed his glasses awkwardly up his nose. The mostly empty bottle and crystal tumbler glinted under the yellowy glow from the small table lamp.

Jack poked his head around the kitchen archway and frowned.

"If you're sure?" And mumbled something that sounded like lookslikemonlyone.

"What?" Daniel asked, not quite hearing what he had said.

"What?" Jack replied a little too quickly, again shaking his head and looking at Daniel as though he was hearing things.

Daniel opened his mouth and then closed it and rocked on his heel.

"Um, Jack, you sure you're ok?"

Jack smiled and opened his arms out wide.

"I told you, Danny, 'm fine. Anyway, you should be going, don't wanna keep Carter waiting now!" The smile faded, "You might miss her."

There was something in the way Jack had said her name, an imperceptible hitch that he wasn't quite sure he wasn't just imagining. He glanced at the almost empty bottle again and turned back to Jack.

"You, ah, thirsty?" He said, his eyebrows twitching towards the table. Jack shrugged and stuck his hands in his pockets.

"Bad day," he said but no further explanation was forthcoming. Daniel frowned, as far as he was aware nothing of note had happened at all that day. For once. "Nothin' a hot toddy and an early night won't cure," he continued, sensing that Danny was about to start up a conversation he had no intention of partaking in at this time. Or ever really. He suddenly straightened up and Daniel took that as his cue.

"Well, I'd best be on my way, busy day tomorrow. I have a convention I'm going to on the difference between Ancient Greek and Phoenician dialects."

Jack motioned towards the door for Daniel to go first and then followed him, opening it for him and letting in the cool breeze.

"Don't forget to let me know what you find out!" He said chirpily as Daniel frowned at his odd behaviour and slowly made his way towards the door. Still, he figured if Jack was so eager to get rid of him he wasn't going to get much out of him if he insisted on staying.

"Yeah, um, will do." Daniel replied. "You know, I could stay?" He said, standing on Jack's porch, clearly torn about whether he should leave his friend in this mood.

"I was about to hit the sack," jack said feebly, "you go, get some beauty sleep. Can't have you sleeping through your lecture," he finished, blocking the doorway with his body.

Daniel knew when he was defeated. Taking a few steps down towards Jack's driveway, he glanced back and yelled, "I'll pop by after it's finished, maybe we could grab a pizza or something?"

Jack nodded the affirmative but didn't say anything, he just stood leaning on the doorframe with his hands jammed firmly into his pockets.

"Night, Danny!"

Jack watched him pull out of the driveway and once his car was out of sight he pushed the door shut not waiting for it to close and resumed his seat. Damn, he swore under his breath, all out of the hard stuff. Oh well, at least he still had a fridge full of beer to keep him company tonight.

...

Monday morning came far too quickly and Daniel found himself at 0700 standing in Sam's lab eyes blurry from sleep and clutching a bucket of coffee like his life depended upon it. Sam hadn't arrived yet which was unusual but not unheard of. No sooner had the thought formed he heard jingling from down the corridor and a muffled "Morning, Ma'am!" in a deep baritone. A woman's voice responded to the greeting and he recognised it as Sam. She swung round the door of her mostly dark lab and it took her a few moments to realise she wasn't alone.

"Daniel!" She blurted out, "Sorry, I didn't notice you when I came in." She frowned, "why are you sitting in my lab in the dark?"

Daniel bit back a yawn. "Too early for lights," he explained and handed her an equally large mug, "Coffee?"

Sam grinned as she gratefully accepted his gift, the bitter aroma diffusing into her foggy brain before the coffee even reached her lips.

"So what brings you here?" She began inquisitively.

"Oh I just thought I'd bring you my notes from the artefact SG-9 found on Friday," he said ruffling through his bag to find what he was looking for.

"You made notes?" She noted, grinning, "Thanks, Daniel. These are a huge help. Maybe we'll have an idea of what it does by the end of the week. I'll pass them on to Felger." Sam put down her coffee. "Actually, I'm glad you're here because there's something I wanted to tell you."

Daniel's head tilted with intrigue.

"Oh yeah?"

Sam hesitated and then blurted her next sentence out

"Because I thought you might have seen General O'Neill over the weekend and he might have said something and I didn't want you to think that I had deliberately not told you-"

Now Daniel really was intrigued.

"Sam..." He cut her babbling off mid-stream, "just tell me."

Sam squirmed on her stool and looked down at the table.

"Well, you see, Two weeks ago Pete asked me to marry him."

Suddenly their conversation with Teal'c about Krista had made sense. Daniel smiled.

"And..." He prompted.

Sam gulped.

"And I said yes."

Daniel took in a huge gulp of air and his eyes went wide.

"Wow, Sam, that's... Congratulations!" He said, putting down his coffee and moving around to her side of the bench before wrapping her in a bear hug. Sam just sat with her arms pinned to her side and Daniel pulled back. "That is... good, right?"

Sam smiled awkwardly.

"Yes! I mean, yes it is. He's a great guy." Daniel felt like there was a 'but' but none was forthcoming. Daniel smiled.

"So, come on, Sam, spill the details! What happened when you I'd yes?"

Sam blushed,

"Obviously Pete's relieved I finally agreed. We went out for dinner Saturday night to celebrate."

Daniel's smile faltered.

"Saturday?" He said, more off statement than a question.

"Yeah, why?" Sam's eyes narrowed she considered Daniel's fallen expression.

"Oh! No reason!" He said suddenly snapping out of it, "wow, that's great! So, have you set a date yet?"

Sam straightened up.

"We agreed that we'd quite like a summer wedding. So maybe August?"

Daniel's eyebrows rose.

"This August?!" Sam nodded. "That's fast."

"Neither of us wants a big thing and we figured why wait? Neither of us is getting any younger..."

Daniel grasped her hands in his.

"Hey, if you're happy, I'm happy!" He said, smiling.

Sam ducked her head.

"Thanks, Daniel, that means a lot. You guys are the closest thing I have to family right now."

Daniel nodded sincerely. The guys. Suddenly an image of the empty whiskey bottle entered his head. Just as he straightened up, the sound of boots brought him out of his realisation and a few seconds later a familiar voice came from the doorway.

"Daniel. Carter." Jack stood in his BDUs, back straight and his professional glaze planted across his face.

Daniel couldn't help but notice the way that Sam stiffened up at his presence.

"Morning, Sir."

Jack nodded but there was something in his eyes that gave him away. That hollow, empty look that had crossed his face briefly on Friday night was back for a second and then gone. He bumped his fist restlessly against the door frame, the silence growing louder every second.

"Erm, Daniel, can I borrow you for a few minutes?" Jack finally said just as the silence was reaching uncomfortable levels.

Daniel looked from Jack to Sam, noting that she couldn't quite meet the General's eyes, and he could have sworn there was a tiny hint of anger there in those blue irises. But, it was gone as quickly as it appeared and Daniel thought it may have just been a trick of the light.

"Ah, yeah, sure, just let me give this stuff to Sam and I'll be right with you."

Jack shrugged.

"See you in my office in 5," he muttered, and with that wordlessly backed away down the corridor his footfalls fading in the distance.

Daniel put down his stack of papers and motioned after Jack.

"I'd better-"

Sam nodded.

"Don't want to keep the General waiting."

Daniel nodded resigned and turned to follow Jack without glancing back. Woo boy, he mused, the next few months were going to be fun!

...


End file.
